1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive reflection type display apparatus that displays to a driver vehicle running information at the instrument panel of a vehicle.
2. Prior Art
There has been an automotive display apparatus which utilizes a reflecting surface to form a display image at a distant location from the driver to enable quick recognition by the driver of the displayed information.
FIGS. 9 and 10 show examples of such a conventional display apparatus. In the apparatus of FIG. 9, an indicator 43 such as a liquid crystal display and a fluorescent display tube is attached to the underside of a meter hood 42 over an instrument panel 41. A half-mirror 44 is installed at the meter display portion of the instrument panel 41 to project the light from the indicator 43 onto the half-mirror 44 and thereby form a virtual image 45 of the indicator 43.
The virtual image 45 is located as far behind the half-mirror 44 as a distance between the half-mirror 44 and the indicator 43, producing a remote display effect.
In the apparatus of FIG. 10, a reflector plate 56 facing the half-mirror 54 is installed in a meter hood 52 of the instrument panel 51. The meter hood 52 also contains an indicator 53 at a position opposite to the reflector plate 56, which reflects the light from the indicator 53 onto the half-mirror 54 to form a virtual image 55 of the indicator 53.
This construction elongates the light path from the indicator 53 to the half-mirror 54, providing a greater effect of the remote display than that obtained with the apparatus of FIG. 9.
Denoted 47 in FIG. 9 and 57 in FIG. 10 are other indicators seen superimposed with the virtual images 45,
With the apparatus of FIG. 9 in which the rays of light are reflected only once by the half-mirror, however, a sufficient effect of the remote display cannot be produced. When the number of reflections is increased to elongate the light path as in the device of FIG. 10, the volume occupied by the light path increases, which leads to an increase in the overall size of the apparatus.
In these remote display apparatuses, it is necessary to increase a view angle of the virtual image to prevent the recognizability or visibility of the remotely formed image from deteriorating. It is also required that the viewing area on the reflection surface of the half-mirror be made large enough to accommodate the entire virtual image, so that a part of the image will not overflow from the viewing area to get lost.